Though he is well-meaning, James is reserved and anti-social, distrusting and timid of people. This was borne of his mother's fear of his ability throughout his childhood and the feelings of betrayal he developed as a result of being sent off to the Institute. Having been in training since the age of 7, he's been deprived of a normal family and social life for well over a decade and in various working positions to utilize his skills for almost as long. As a result he has a warped sense of self-worth, sometimes self-aggrandized and others woefully undervalued. He's learned that the only thing he has going for him is his sense, but whether or not that means the world or nothing at all utterly depends upon how successful he feels. Each empathic episode, each time an energy possesses him, takes everything out of him and can leave him exhausted and nervous for days afterwards. It's a fragile and dangerous time as he could snap at any point if provoked or become trapped in a cycle of reminscence and obsessing, unable to let go of the feelings and visions of trauma. For this reason he is on a specialized team and in regular therapy sessions.